The timely diagnosis of pathogens, bacteria, abnormal cell and infectious diseases is often complicated by the need to use cultures as the means to identify the bacteria and select the optimum treatment. Currently, identification of pathogens often takes days and involves complicated procedures, a situation that may unduly delay effective treatment such as the appropriate selection of an optimal antibiotic. Similar problems exist in detecting bacterial contamination in food, especially in beef, poultry and fish. The delay in identifying the presence of harmful bacteria in food products could result in contaminated products being released for distribution and consumption with dire consequences. In some instances, these delays have proved to be fatal to patients or have caused unnecessary suffering. According to 1999 statistics provided by the Center for Disease Control, there were 1,194,959 reported cases of infectious diseases caused by bacteria. Furthermore, there were many instances of food poisoning that were not subject to mandatory reporting to the Center for Disease Control. A common practice in treating infected patients is the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. However, due to the problem of bacterial resistance to many antibiotics, broad-spectrum antibiotics may not be effective. Many of these cases of infectious diseases could have been prevented or promptly treated if rapid and accurate diagnosis was available. Rapid identification of pathogens, bacteria and abnormal cells is also critical in dealing with bio-terrorism and with biological agents during warfare.